Page 15 of Try Easy

Red Velvet Invitation

Lou

Bones’s stationwagon had two giant surfboards strapped to the top. Lou stopped short when she saw it and raised her camera for a picture. She hoped to find a camera store on the island. At this rate, she was going to run out of film before the vacation was over.

Penny came up beside Lou and nudged her with her elbow. “What do you think?” she asked, nodding at the two men loading their suitcases into the trunk.

Bones and Keoni made a spectacular pair. Both were tall and handsome and fit. Lou and Penny weren’t the only girls staring at them.

Lou lowered her camera and glared at Penny. “Are you nuts?” she asked. “You just met him. And what about Joe?”

“Joe who?”

“Penny.”

“Lou.”

“Keoni?” a man’s voice called from a distance.

Keoni’s head snapped up, and his shoulders stiffened as he turned toward the sound of his name.

Lou looked from Keoni to the man who was striding down the sidewalk toward them. He had a confident walk that chewed up the sidewalk, wheat-blond hair, and a gorgeous white-toothed smile. He wore a navy blazer, white pants, and sockless Weejuns. Black-framed Wayfarer sunglasses covered his eyes.

Keoni walked stiffly across the sidewalk to greet him with a handshake.

“Look who’s back,” Bones said, coming up to join them.

There was an awkward moment of silence, and then the man took off his sunglasses and inspected Keoni’s face.

“What the hell happened to you?” he asked.

“Waimea Bay,” Keoni said.

“I thought maybe you got some girl pregnant again,” he said, laughing.

“That wasn’t me,” Keoni said, not laughing.

“I know, but…” he said. “You got your ass beat anyway.”

“You just fly in, Declan?” Bones asked.

“Yeah, I came from Cabo. The waves are this big,” he said, raising his arm over his head.

Keoni smiled, and Lou saw some of the tension leave his stiff shoulders. “Sure, bruddah, whatevah you say.”

Declan smiled back at Keoni. “I swear. They were monsters.” Declan glanced over at Penny and Lou as if noticing them for the first time. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends?” he asked.

“Mary Lou and Penny,” Keoni said, indicating them each. “This is Declan Bishop.”

Declan bent over Penny’s hand and kissed it, then did the same with Lou’s. He looked up at her as his mouth brushed over her knuckles, giving her a cocky smile. His blond hair fell over his forehead and he swept it aside in a practiced move.

“What are you two lovely women doing with these thugs?” Declan asked.

Lou straightened her shoulders and did her best to look down her nose at Declan. “They were kind enough to give us a ride,” she said.

“You gonna give them a tour of the islands, too?” Declan asked, grinning. “Show dem da Reel Ha-vhy-ee?”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Penny said. She gazed up at Bones. “I bet you know all the best spots.”

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